Sydney Northern Beaches Wedding: Sharyn & Marcus

Sharyn and Marcus were my first couple to tie the knot in 2012, and what a great wedding it was to start the year!

While they currently reside in Adelaide, Sharyn's roots are in Sydney's northern beaches and they chose one of the region's most prestigious locations for their ceremony: Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in Manly. This impressive Gothic style chapel is perched high above Manly with amazing views over the beach. No surprise then that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban chose the same chapel for their wedding back in 2006.

The layout of the chapel is quite unusual with the seats facing into the centre aisle rather than towards the front. This is because the chapel was designed like a monastic abbey where traditionally monks would face each other when singing and praying. So attending the wedding rehearsal proved invaluable as that allowed me to work out the best way to move around the chapel with minimal distraction, and the best positions to shoot from.

The wedding day started early at the Manly Novotel where Marcus was getting ready with his groomsmen. Well, recovering might be more appropriate judging by the empty tequila bottles and cigar butts. Just sayin'! In any case Marcus seemed suitably excited about the day as he started breaking out the handstands!

I then headed out to Sharyn's family home in Eastwood where Sharyn and her girls were relaxing to chilled tunes while they went through hair and make up. Sharyn has been into sports since she was a child and is apparently amazing at anything she tries (as her dad would later relay in his speech) so her beautiful backless gown certainly complemented her toned figure.

Sharyn rocked up to the chapel in a gorgeous, vintage Bentley convertible and after the ceremony the newlyweds exited to find a surprise waiting for them: two massive Swiss alpine horns that were being played to honour Marcus' Swiss heritage!

Location photos started at nearby Shelly Beach before moving over to North Head where the bridal party enjoyed the vistas over Sydney Harbour along with bubbles and balloons! They were all in high spirits and more than happy to break out a few fun poses for the camera.

The fun continued at reception which was held at Ormeggio at The Spit in Mosman. We arrived to find the guests out on the deck enjoying glorious waterside views as the sun slowly descended. Sharyn loves the water so after the entree we headed out onto the jetty for a couple of photos during the last few golden minutes.

After some heartfelt and hilarious speeches (during which time we learned that Marcus had dined with Arnold Schwarzenegger!) the athletic couple entertained their guests with an energetic first dance that set the bar for the rest of the night's dancefloor action!

Sharyn and Marcus ordered a Queensberry Press Book to display their favourite photos from the day. During the design stage Sharyn told me how the process of selecting the album photos made her realise how great her photos were. That was so nice to hear and exactly why albums become such valuable possessions - they hold your most treasured photos from your biggest day. After receiving the album the couple wrote to me to say how much they love poring over it :)

Here's the story of their day told through some of my favourite images. Enjoy.

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